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Sunday, 11 September 2011

Remembering who you are

Hello guys and gals,
In this post I wish to highlight the importance of having remembering who you are as both an artist and an animator.

Producing a showreel or working as an animator takes a lot of time and dedication. Sometimes we so get lost in the pressure of making a shot work, that it is hard to find the time to celebrate who we are as individuals. In this post I wish to present two great examples of artists who have found that time to explore their own interests away from their normal methods of animation.

Confessions of a Yeti

Now a few days ago, I took a visit to Keith Lango's blog. As people know, Keith is a wonderful teacher who has dedicated a lot of time to helping others understand concepts in 3d animation. While Keith has loved teaching animators, including myself, I was very pleased to see he has recently taken time to make his own personal project. It becomes his first short film in over ten years! The film is titled 'My Bathroom' and is plans to be the first in a series titled 'Confessions of a Yeti', inspired by the work of Jim Henson. Its a delightful film. The puppet is so fluffy, and white and crafted together wonderfully (can't believe Keith actually made it). I believe it fits in perfectly with the fun and innocence of the story. I look forward to seeing more.

Jill the Peg

Next I wish to show you the work of Dave Cropley, a friend of mine who spent twelve years as a character animator. I met Dave at a life drawing class at Bristol Grammar School. Dave's method of drawing is somewhat different from the rest of the class. Through etching, he likes to combine several five min poses into a single drawing. The result are Dali-style ''freaks'' with beautifully warped proportions. He now hopes to turn these into animations and a step-by-step walkthrough to show his production method using Adobe Flash.

4 comments:

Interesting stuff, thanks for sharing! The Yeti film was awesome. Absolutely perfect staging and emotion (though maybe a touch long for my liking to really make it pop.) I can't wait to see more of 'em!

The three legged creature was... interesting. And maybe a little scary.

Dave's work is a tad scary. You haven't seen his other drawings :)At the same time, they do have an intriguing quality about them. I did fine art at uni studying artists such as the Chapman Brothers. I also have seen animation created by Spike and Mike, and the Quay Brothers which both appeal to the dark side.Overall the post explores quite a contrast. First I show the fluffiness of Keith Lango's work, before revealing Jill the Peg!! Hoping it helps to promote the idea of having difference tastes etc